This became our main bag. After daily wear on the back, we are thankfully reporting complete comfort and no back pain!! Seriously outstanding design. Thick, breathable padding on the back and the straps were just the right thickness. Plus there were other straps to make it more secure to the body, which we never use since it impedes access. Perhaps on a hike.

As a bonus, this bag also sat upright on itâ€™s own so, while in the pit shooting, it stayed conveniently out of the way and the top handle made it easy for a quick move after our â€œ3 songs to shootâ€ rule was enacted. Sometimes there were metal benches, but mostly it was a plywood floor that had so many cables and boxes at the stage, you were lucky to get a clear spot. The stand-up feature really helped us stay tight and small.

The bag also has a sweet slot for a15â€ MacBook Pro which we needed on one day, where we downloaded/uploaded as we went. Even had a 500 GB G-Tech hard drive with us.
When the laptop was not being added to the load, we always had an iPad: notes, sketches, research, display.

Now some other features on the Backpack: built for comfort AND speed.

Getting into it was a breeze and once the gear was set for a shoot, even changing lenses on the fly was easy.

There are 2 compartmentalized, side pockets that were used mainly to throw stuff into like flyers, CDâ€™S paper, and small swag.

There is a pretty cool feature on both sides, and that is the bottle holder.
At least we think that is what it is for. Itâ€™s what WE used it for. Longs days call for hydration.

There is one hidden element we did NOT get a chance to explore and that is the tripod holder. Cleverly hidden on the bottom of the pack, you pull it out and rest 2 legs of the tripod on it and secure the main body to the pack.
Will try it with a monopod next time.

OK, That was the gear we carried:

Hereâ€™s why:

For your daily walkaround, or B-Roll, the 24-70 has the perfect range to capture people and the environment while getting close to the subject.
The addition of the lens hood, made it a formidable tool, even just from an appearance standpoint so you always looked a tad more official than the rest of the shooters.
Sorry, but true.

In a panel or keynote situation, you were able to get a sense of the entire stage, but you never really want a ton of that anyway.

Shooting the music: with a pass for the pit (the area directly in front of the stage) you can use your full compliment of lenses.

It was the first time in a while, bringing out a prime but it gave the right sense of space for the event. And if we were still up close, nothing like a low wide shot of rock and roll!

The flash, Newton Flash Frame, and lightsphere were best for the fast portraits, or event coverage. We did a favor for one of our favorite writers who had a book signing, Guy Kawasaki, and the event was perfect for this rig.

The same rig did come out now and again, set on manual to just kiss the subject with some slight fill.
Honestly, we love the Adobe Lightroom Fill Light function and will go there first.

The Passport Color Checker would come out in general environments where the light got kinda funky, temperature wise: Panels, hallways (skylight and fluorescent),
And outdoor concerts.
Past that, trying to match the indoor smallish concert venues was nearly pointless on site.
There were places we were lucky to squeeze a lens through, much less a color chart.

The low light capabilities of the D700 coupled with the noise reduction in Lightroom were our friends throughout the festival.

Sure the bigger venues had better lighting and made our choices easier, but the small clubs, were killing us.
Rule of thumb though: Always shoot manual and always shoot RAW. Youâ€™ll be glad you did in post.

Next up?
The alt cameras. What we also carried to Austin.

How we made lemonade out of lemons with this performance by the Bangles:

The combo of a new Nikon camera and lens, saved the day.
Coming tomorrow.